That 120 second plank hold was an incredible mind-freak. Physically difficult, yes, but the last 30 seconds was all about making myself do it.

Notes:

As per my most recent post, this week begins a new cycle for me. Last week, being as sick as I was, I completely abandoned the gym on Mon and Wed mornings, in favor of sleep. Since my usual workout time is early early morning, on those times when I am sick, it’s hard to get into the gym even for light work, since my sick body so clearly needs additional sleep more than it needs motion. But after I finished up my antibiotics on Sunday, I was feeling probably 85% better. So I swung back into action as of this morning early.

Restarting the count of weeks. What does it mean? The main issue, besides the missed workouts, was the long period that elapsed from my last squat workout until this one. Ten full days. So I reset my squat numbers… a purely temporary situation, to be quickly remedied. This wasn’t a reset due to failure or form issues, so I’ll quickly step it back up. 185 today. Add 30 lbs for this Friday taking me to 215. Add 15 lbs for next Monday taking me to 230. And then 10 lbs for next Friday for a new +5 lb PR, putting me back on course with my earlier Linear Progression. But 19 days behind the previous “schedule.” I’ll have to see how those feel. They may feel great. In which case, I’ll stick to +5 lbs per session. But my instincts are telling me to switch now to +2.5 lbs per session, aka +5 lbs per week.

Over the longer term, what does this signify? For my squats, I mean? After hitting 240 on Nov. 18th, doing +5 lbs per week would put me at 250 lbs on Dec. 2nd, and at 260 by Dec. 16th. At which point Christmas break may interrupt. Or it may not! We’ll see. If I can swing it, I can possibly get away with doing pared down squat and deadlift only sessions Dec. 18th to Jan 3rd; I’ll need to get at least 5 sessions in: two the week of the 19th to the 23rd, two the week of the 26th to the 30th, and one on the first of the year. If I can continue to hit a +2.5 lbs per session, that would bring me up to 265 before Christmas, and 270 before New Years, and 275 on my birthday on Jan. 6th.

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Friday morning I made it to ASC just at 6:00 am. No plans to squat. Still feeling like crap. The antibiotics are helping but not so much that, as I discovered quickly, a little effort causes me to break out in an unpleasant cold sweat (in my imagination, this has a grey green color and makes me look like a Zombie). But I did something.

Warm-Up: 3 minutes on the Rowing Ergometer. Stats not important (did it light).

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It would be week XII. But I missed workout A. Looks like I’ll miss workout B tomorrow AM too. It means I fall behind on my projected squat linear progression, and being a super novice, I don’t even know how to deal with that programming issue.

My doctor ruled out pneumonia. Which is good. And basically said it’s viral and there’s nothing to be done except rest, fluids, chicken soup. Rest is actually my challenge. Being sick enough to force a rest period sucks pretty bad. Advice appreciated.

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What is “Baldwin’s Gym Notebook”?

I'm a middle aged college professor who, over the past six years, has been on a journey—a sort of Odyssey, really—of fitness and training. In this blog I share my thoughts and experiences along the way, in an effort to hold myself accountable, and possibly, to inform and entertain readers.

This blog used to be called "Training Board". Posts relating to these topics can be found on here going back to 2009.

I took about two years away from the blog, from March 2013 until March 2015. In that "dark period," a lot of things changed. But one thing that hasn't changed is my desire to live and to live well, and to include fitness, nutrition, and thoughtful reflection on training in my life.

Thank you for reading. If you feel like it, leave a comment. Let me know your thoughts too. Let me know how your training and life is going.